This isn't necessarily an idea related to Virginia Tech Athletics per say, but I know many of you who read this site also are general college basketball fans too. Many of you also likely are either not fans of the expansion of the NCAA Tournament for men's and women's basketball from 68 to 76 teams.
There's no denying the fact that this move is driven by the power conferences wanting more teams in while the mid-majors see a chance to at least get one of these eight bids while also the smaller conferences could get two NCAA Tournament units instead of one because of there now being six opening round games for the lowest ranked automatic qualifiers rather than just two.
Money and access are driving this, not what fans want in having a regular season that has greater importance and a more selective field where merit matters and strong mid-majors get their shot rather than bottom half to third power conference programs.
So here's an idea that almost certainly won't be taken up by those in power given the why of expansion, but one that would be great for the sport of college basketball and leverage expansion to put greater focus on college basketball's regular season, at least for the non-power conferences.
The proposal: the top 20 teams in the NET who finish first or second in their conference in the regular season and do not clinch an auto bid, automatically receive bids themselves. These teams would be placed into the at-large group of teams and therefore be eligible for the new opening round games. There would be a minimum requirement of each team having to be inside the top 100 of the NET. If there weren't 20 teams inside the top 100 of the NET to be included in this category, then those remaining bids would become at-large bids.
This would mean that the conference races in all sorts of non-power conference leagues would carry a lot more weight whether that's the Mountain West, Atlantic 10, American, WCC, SoCon, the Pac-12 moving forward, Missouri Valley, and more.
So how would this impact the NCAA Tournament fields? Well let's take a look at what a 76-team field would look like if this rule was in place in recent years.
Let's start with the 2026 NCAA Men's Tournament where only 17 teams meet the minimum top 100 NET requirement. Those teams are as follows: Michigan, Florida, Houston, Connecticut, Virginia, Nebraska, Alabama, Saint Mary's, Saint Louis, San Diego State, Belmont, Miami (OH), Yale, Wichita State, Utah Valley, Stephen F Austin, and UNC Wilmington.
This would mean the inclusion of seven new teams from this category who didn't make the 2026 68-team field: San Diego State (47), Belmont (63), Yale (68), Wichita State (78), Utah Valley (85), Stephen F Austin (89), and UNC Wilmington (96). With one extra spot remaining, this past year's first team out Auburn would also earn an at-large bid.
How about 2025? Well only 13 teams would meet the minimum top 100 NET requirement to fill this category in Auburn, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Maryland, Saint Mary's, Clemson, Creighton, New Mexico, UC Irvine, North Texas, George Mason, Bradley, and Chattanooga.
This would mean the inclusion of five new teams from this top two category who didn't make the 2025 68-team field: UC Irvine (63), North Texas (64), George Mason (73), Bradley (77), and Chattanooga (96). With three spots remaining, this would also mean the addition of West Virginia, Indiana, and Ohio State to the 2025 field.
How about 2024? This year had a full 20 teams that would meet the requirement in Houston, Purdue, Arizona, Tennessee, North Carolina, Duke, Creighton, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Indiana State, Nevada, Utah State, FAU, Washington State, Princeton, Appalachian State, Richmond, UC Irvine, South Florida, and Loyola-Chicago. Additionally, Louisiana Tech finished in the top 100 and would qualify if the top 20 wasn't already full.
This rule would mean the inclusion of seven new teams that didn't make the 2026 68-team field: Indiana State (28), Princeton (55), Appalachian State (72), Richmond (73), UC Irvine (77), South Florida (78), and Loyola Chicago (85). With one spot remaining, Oklahoma would also get in the 2024 field.
So over the course of these three years, here is the breakdown of the conferences that would gain more bids.
- American: 3 (USF - 2024, North Texas - 2025, Wichita State - 2026)
- Atlantic 10: 3 (Richmond and Loyola Chicago - 2024, George Mason - 2025)
- Big 10: 2 (Indiana and Ohio State - 2025)
- Big 12: 2 (Oklahoma - 2024, West Virginia - 2025)
- Big West: 2 (UC Irvine - 2024 & 2025)
- CAA: 1 (UNC Wilmington - 2026)
- Ivy League: 2 (Princeton - 2024, Yale - 2026)
- Missouri Valley: 3 (Indiana State - 2024, Bradley - 2025, Belmont - 2026)
- Mountain West: 1 (San Diego State - 2026)
- SEC: 1 (Auburn - 2026)
- SoCon: 1 (Chattanooga - 2025)
- Southland: 1 (Stephen F Austin - 2026)
- Sun Belt: 1 (Appalachian State - 2024)
- WAC: 1 (Utah Valley - 2026)
The five power conferences get a little more with five additional bids while the mid-major leagues add 19 total bids. This would put greater emphasis in the sport on contending for regular season titles knowing that success there could lead to a spot in the dance.
It would also ensure some of the best mid-majors who get upset in the roulette that are conference tournaments still get their chance whether that's Indiana State back in 2024 or teams like Belmont and Yale this past year. UC Irvine would benefit the most with two additional bids while 22 other teams would gain a bid.
Am I a fan of NCAA Tournament expansion? No, but this scenario could prove to be good in the long-term for the sport: enhancing the regular season while strengthening the quality of mid-majors who could make noise in the postseason.
Even if you took this cut line to the top 80 of the NET instead of the top 100 to appease the power conferences, you still increase the value of the regular season for many mid-major leagues with 14 of the 24 bids going to teams in these categories and ten going to power conferences.
